What does an all-round chaos round look like? Well, after day two of the average chaos round you get a drop-off in activity. People simply can't spend the turns. So what would a round where everyone gained double-speed every tick look like? Would this prompt sudden activity unburdened by people out of turns? Or would the number of turns simply remain unspent?

I have leaned on no accounts or records here, because there was practically nothing to recount. I am indebted to Coldwizard's save of the Hall of Fame for reminding me of just how dead the round was, and for Solace's saved accounts of the downing of the Mothership on the Fury history.

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2.8

Introduction:The long-awaited Nomad was still unfinished, but was expected in a little under two months from the round start. To fill the gap, a shorter, faster round was started - double turns were awarded to artificially inflate the round length to a ‘real’ round.

Political Backdrop:Outcasts disappeared at the end of 2.7, and none of Evolution, GTG, Jade Triad or RONIN returned for 2.8. Besides SD working with XF once more, there were no real relations to speak of. The majority of former Outcasts played under the Equilibrium tag, who were the only new name for 2.8.

Gameplay Changes:The changes were a drastic change back from the retro mechanics of 2.7 to the more familiar and balanced gameworld of 2.4. The Alternity rounds had ended and we saw the return of the 27-system map. All of the ships, equations, weapons and equipment were restored to their more familiar roles and stats.

Events Overview:It became quite clear early on that there was going to be minimal activity on behalf of all alliances. Following hot on the heels of the sluggish end to 2.7, there was little appetite for the required high pace. Most players ended up trading most of their turns away as the only way to keep on top of them. Casual hunting was prevalent, particularly by alliances such as Equilibrium, although the short round meant that kill counts were relatively feeble - not a single player topped 100.

The only alliances raiding were SD and KAOS, neither pursuing high-level targets but instead low, populated ports. Jumps were sporadic. There were no wars to speak of and no planet raids. The round was always going to end up as a filler until Nomad, and there is no doubt that the playerbase viewed it in the same way.

Oh Mother:The only achievement worthy of note this round was the last-day downing of the Scourge Mothership by Fury, a fraction over 24 hours before the round finished. Having taken down Admiral Williamson the previous day for old times’ sake, Fury lined up an attempt at the remaining NPC capital ship. The escorts were cleared as squads of zalluns whittled down the ships to just the Mothership. After a steady fight and several pauses for calculations, the Mothership was downed for the only time, Detmer delivering the killing blow.

Round Summary:The greatest example of why a pacifist TDZK would have never worked. The round was dull, lacking in ambition, inspiration or any drive or events worth noting. In hindsight, maybe halving the costs of everything would have been a better idea, but it's hard to believe that even this would have sparked anything of the round.

To punish me for my contempt for authority, fate made me an authority myself.- Albert Einstein